4hr 38min DVD9 - Is this ok?

[sdsumike619]

Is there any issue with authoring a DVD9 that is 4hrs 38mins? I'll use Adobe Encore CS3 on its auto transcode setting so it should adjust the bitrate to fit everything on the DVD, correct?

[MOVIEGEEK]

The bitrate will be ~3.6Mbps so the only issue will be slight macroblocking on fast movement, I would use 2-pass VBR. The auto setting will make sure the video will fit.

[turk690]

That should be OK for a DVD9 but not for a DVD5.

[sdsumike619]

Should I do a test encode from my NLE (Vegas) and encode a segment of video at 3.6mbps MPEG2 and see what it looks like to get an idea? Or is that pointless because Adobe uses a different transcoder?

[turk690]

Should I do a test encode from my NLE (Vegas) and encode a segment of video at 3.6mbps MPEG2 and see what it looks like to get an idea? Or is that pointless because Adobe uses a different transcoder?

At 4hrs38mins, the ave video bitrate is about 3.8Mbps with an audio track of 192Kbps, according to the bitrate calculator I use. 3.8Mbps is fine for talking heads and other static scenes, but quickly become blocky when there is movement galore. If you want to test, try to find out parts of that video that has a lot of detailed movement (rippling waves or fluttering leaves, for example) and encode away. IMHO, above around 6Mbps, MPEG2 encoders generally produce nice-looking video. Below this bitrate is where the professional ones get separated from the so-so ones. I do not exactly know what encoding engine Vegas uses, but Premiere uses MainConcept, which has been derided in some circles due to just that: poor video quality at lower bitrates. One of the top-rated ones is CCE (I use basic version), and another is HCenc.

[sdsumike619]

Yes, Vegas also uses MainConcept. What I do is encode the DV AVI, and then import that into Encore. Encore is the program that does the transcoding to MPEG2, so I'm not certain which encoder it uses.. Does anyone know? If I encode to MPEG2 prior to importing into Encore, then I can't set my chapter points at the exact frames that I want them.